British Greens responding to the intersection of anti-Zionism and antisemitism

A time to speak out

“Members should at all times, including when proposing and implementing policy, be sensitive to the fact that the Green Party does not and will not endorse or tolerate antisemitism, or discrimination of any form.”

In 2009 the Green Party Regional Council (GPRC) endorsed a report raising concerns about antisemitic behaviour.

Recommendation 4.1.3 states:

“We recommend that training is offered to all party members on a regular basis, for example through conference, around the topic of anti-racism and anti-semitism. We are aware that some of the anti-semitic behaviour noted at 4.1.2 may not be perceived as such by the people involved, and we feel that it is vital that these kind of attitudes are challenged in a proactive manner.”

The GPRC accepted a report that there is a problem with antisemitism in the Green Party. It also accepted very specific recommended actions. There has been no attempt to implement some of these actions since they were approved sixteen months ago. Things are getting worse.

We’re going to let readers judge for themselves whether the Green Party has kept faith with its estimable sentiments. Hitherto, this blog has not publicised internal matters of the Green Party, but has limited itself to what is in the public domain. Meanwhile, serious cases of antisemitism occurred and we duly pursued these internally through the Green Party’s own democratic avenues. In the last few weeks, however, we have come to the conclusion that this approach has failed. In the absence of open and free discussions and external scrutiny, we no longer hold any hope that the Green Party’s problem with antisemitism can be resolved. In the interests of the Green Party, we have therefore decided to take a more ‘direct action’ type of approach, namely to raise in this forum some of the serious incidents which have happened, along with the inappropriate response of the institution so far.

We cannot any longer provide cover for these incidents, and until the Green Party acts on its own policies, we are obliged to take responsibility for making the climate less friendly to antisemitism.

‘When all other avenues have been exhausted’, we know that the Green Party leadership supports direct action. And when ‘name and shame’ relates to people who stand for elections, it’s better thought of as transparency and accountability.

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2 thoughts on “A time to speak out”

I wish you well too but given that your leader and only elected MP is an outspoken [redacted by moderator – sorry Greg, best (not to mention as a safeguard against litigation) to discuss the acts and not essentialise the person] I give you no chance.